Last weekend, during the occasion of International Women’s Day, Fijians were reminded about the immeasurable contribution of women to the successes and triumphs of families and communities.
This year’s theme challenged us to unlock equal rights, power and opportunities for all and a future where no woman is left behind.
Central to this noble dream is empowering women of today and the next generation of girls to be catalysts of positive and lasting change.
To fathom our women’s immense input in society, we only need to consider the numerous challenges they encounter and the countless ways in which they struggle daily so their families, yes you and I, may survive to prosper and triumph.
Single mums and widows, many of whom live in sub-standard living conditions, and never enjoy the support of their husbands, toil in farms, in crowded markets and on the streets so that they may earn enough to feed themselves and their children.
They may walk miles on gravelly cane access roads to get a single pail of brackish water from frog-infested wells, boreholes and rivers – to clean, cook and wash – so that their family members are quenched, wear clean clothes and stay healthy.
They account for a sizeable share of employment in the informal sector. They perform the bulk of unpaid care and domestic work within families and households.
As a writer, I read and write about women almost every day. I believe many of my stories, though penned in the interest and pursuit of truth, would have sounded mundane and lifeless without women as subjects.
It is our women’s uniquely adverse circumstances and the manner in which their zeal and inherent determination salvage them out of the brims of suffering, that make their inspiring stories worth sharing with the world.
On Monday, The Fiji Times ran a piece on Dr Hilda Waqa-Sakiti’s academic journey and how she carved a path of excellence in the field of science and research.
On Tuesday, mother-of-three Esita Lobe shared her dreams of venturing into the cutthroat world of entrepreneurship in order to uplift the standard of living of her family and village.
On Wednesday, we shared a piece on Tanya Yahuwah, who after many years in the British Army, decided to return to Fiji to toil the land and establish an orchard farm.
On Thursday, Lautoka market vendor, 65-year-old Sabra Begun spoke of how she woke up daily to support her sickly husband. Despite her struggles, she continues to show up at the market with a smile, just like the first time she tried out vegetable vending decades ago.
On Friday, Ilisapeci Viti talked about her efforts to help school dropouts and unemployed women in Ba through a program called “Life After Rugby”.
Women of different shapes and sizes, struggle each day to bring happiness and smiles. Some toil in the shadows of shame while others persevere in the face of violence and pain.
I vividly remember an interview that I did almost seven years ago with Emele Beti, a farmer, market vendor and a wife living the horrors of a childless marriage.
The Bua woman shared how she was often pelted with hurtful words and lived through moments of heartache.
She petitioned God through tears shed over years of desperate supplication. She never gave up hope.
“Not being able to have children is a painful experience to go through. It can be a big burden to bear,” she said during an interview inside her vegetable market stall in Naqara, Taveuni.
A few years later, she found miracle when she met a seven-year-old girl called Nafisha Dean who lived with her three siblings and mother in one of Suva’s squatter settlements. She rescued Dean out of the clutches of poverty and raised her as her own child.
In January 2019, I met Donna Vosalevu on the first day of school. She was struggling to make ends meet but was keen to take her children on day one.
The mother of six from Jittu Estate told me that if the mind was willing to believe the impossible, then struggles were nothing but stepping stones to a bright future.
Donna grew up in a single-parent family, where her mum worked as a house girl.
Her perseverance in education paid off when her eldest son, Christopher, was appointed the head boy of Vishnu Deo Memorial School, a feat none of them had achieved. He was also first in his class and scored the highest marks in mathematics and basic science.
A few years ago, I spoke to Loraini Marama, who taught me the lesson that there was no age limit when it came to hard work.
At 68, the grandmother from Nasauvuki on Moturiki still went to sea to fetch for seafood to be eaten at home and to be sold at the market.
She travelled by fibre glass boat from the island to Levuka every Saturday morning to catch seafood lovers on Ovalau.
“I have been selling seafood for the past thirty years and it is not an easy job,” she told me.
“First, you have to spend hours on the reef collecting your produce for the market, you will have to travel by boat to Levuka early in the morning then you will have to spend hours selling.”
In November 2019, I interviewed Marica Koro during a trip to Yanuca Island in Serua.
The Levukaidaku villager of Matuku in Lau told me how she eked out a living by weaving mats, fishing and tilling the land with her husband.
She had to leave her family behind on the island so she could look for work in Suva. She saved enough to put her children through secondary school and later reunited with her family.
“City life was new to me and its struggles were overwhelming. To survive I had to look for a job but that wasn’t easy considering that I only reached form three and my command of English was very poor,” Marica said.
“I struggled growing up because I was brought up by a stepmother. I was passed around to live with relatives so when I had my own family, I knew the only way to escape my struggles were to work hard. That sacrifice is slowly reaping results.”
In February 2020, Litia Naitanui became the subject of one of my stories. I was amazed by how hard work impacted her life as a senior citizen, single woman and person living with disability.
The woman from Vutia in Rewa was born with a lower limb disorder. This affected her mobility and her ability to lead a normal life.
But living with a disability never discouraged her from living life to the fullest and enjoying its wonderful moments.
“It’s good to be happy and content because joy gives life meaning,” Naitanui said.
“Living with a disability is not the end of the world. It should never make you give up!”
International Women’s Day allows us to celebrate and remember the lives of women – our wives, daughters, sisters, mothers, aunts, nieces, grandmothers and granddaughters.
And in doing so, I salute all the inspiring women whom I have had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing in the past years. Their stories have all been worth reading and emulating. They gave promise of a better future.
I also take this time to say ‘thank you’ to my own mother who never ceases to love me unconditionally. “Nana, you mean the world to me!”
Until we meet on this same page same time next week, stay blessed, stay healthy and stay safe!
